The Asheville citizen. [volume] (Asheville, N.C.) 1885-1889, 1887-03-13
Squire Johnsen's Court.

can find seats must set down
, Whar's the heffer ?"
So spake Squire Johnson, tn
senior magistrate in andfor the Lick
Greek Deestrict," as he touk hi
seat on the work bench in th,
wagon shop which served him for /;
Temple of Justice.
In response to his question, jim
Nixon, the offieious cons table, re.
Piled.
"She's out thar benin the shop
tied in the jam of the fence, Jedge.'
i The1Juds.e gravely proceeded ts
4 put on lis spectacles. after polish
E:,iag elaeT very deliberately with &
.ssEsEe 1iad six khakefeh feE So many
LOT the spectators as could founc
seats on the blocks and saWshorses
and old rlows and wagon~bodies
with which the'dir floor ofthe shoI
Twas lmbered; the seIf-elected
prominent citizensn of the neigh.
borhood ranged themselves along.
side the Squire on the work bench
like jury of Roman Senators, and
the common herd who could find
no seats about the floor, and dared
not encroach upon the sacred seal
! of Justice scuff1ed out ofthe door and
strolIed around behind thc shop -tc
have look at the heifer VI Ii, ). ,.t.s
was in controversy.
The trial about to begin was one
in which all the people of the Lick
Creek settlement took a deep and
abiding interest, In fact, no such
sensation had been known among
these good people since the United
States Marshall had taken Lige
Stewart down to Louisville to be
tried "fur billin' up a little crap ov
peaches an few bushels ov corn, u
as the friends of the accused mildly
put it, though ;the minions of the
law insisted and, l believe, proved
that Ligo had been guilty of illicit
distilling.
Just now two of the first citizens
of this little community were at log
gerheads over the ownership of a
little roam heifer, with a crumpled
horn and a general aspect of patient
resignation and unrequited love.
The heifer would have sold, per.
haps, for as much as six dollars un-
der the most favorable circum-
stances. But the two men who
claimed her were stubborn as mules,
and as determined town her as.if
that little, crooked off fore-foot of
hers were the hand of a princess.
Neither of them had ever been beat
en- in a lawsuit or a fight; both had
large wealth for that country. Each
of them had sworn, according to
TIE Gaa44fbb44eeth Gamble, the neighborhood
klnow>all, ''to sell every head ov
stock often his place, an mortgage
everyfoot ov greun' iR~the farm,
but what he'd git that heffer."
The two men were widely known
in all the Lick Creek district and
several adjacent counties, and every
body expected the contest between
them to be bitter one. They had
been close neighbors and hitherto
fast friends until this unfortunate
affair of the little roam heifer had
estranged them. Which would
prove to be the better man in this
conflict was a matter Of grave doubt
among the wiseacres, and of most
intense speculation among the
younger and more excitable mem.
bers of the community.
Every body, of course, had taken
sides with one or the other of the
disputants, and every body who
could produce the portable proper
ty to put up" had bet something
on the issue. The house of Skinner
and the house of Monroe had de
clared wsr against each other, neigh
borly relations had ceased between
them; their children made mouths
at one another behind the teachers
back in the district school,; the two
wives spoke not as they passed each
other going to and from the only
store in the town of Skimpton; they
walked loftily, full of high and
proud disdain, and in the little log
church on Sundays, during al the
tedious length of Plrson Washem's
sermon, each sat upright and glared
stony eyed toward the bench where
upon the other sat,
Outside the families of the come
batants the excitement was almost
as intense. The cobbler had wag-
cred a pair of homemade brogans
with the blacksmith against set of
trace-chains and a "swingle>tree."
Good old -Parson Washem himself,
Ironside Baptist as he was, had bet
with the school. master jug of new
sspeach and honey" of the Parsons
own make against a dollar of the
pedagogic salary. This last bet was
not proclaimed on the house-tops,
for the Parson said:
'sI'm a-gwine ter give that money
toe the heather, you know, and the
Good Book says we must mt tell
our left han what the right ham is
a-doin' ov. So you see, errymier
l am Jest a-winnin' ov your money
fur the Lords cause, an to teach
you not ter put your trust in earthly
| things"
To which jeremiah Crane, the
school master, made solemn bu
somewhat sarcastic reply, saying:
eyes, Parson, g you ever git tha
), money! you git it, Parson-,
) know you'll use it right; but l N
a-goin' to give the bulk of tha
. t.neach an, honey, to the heather